More than 1,000 dinosaur footprints along with tail-drag marks have been discovered along the Arizona-Utah border. The incredibly rare concentration of beastly tracks likely belonged to at least four different species of dinosaurs, ranging from youngsters to adults.

The tracks range in length from 1 to 20 inches (2.5 to 51 centimeters).

“The different size tracks may tell us that we are seeing mothers walking around with babies,” said researcher Winston Seiler, a geologist at the University of Utah.

The tracks were laid about 190 million years ago in what is now the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.

“There must have been more than one kind of dinosaur there,” said researcher Marjorie Chan, professor and chair of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah. “It was a place that attracted a crowd, kind of like a dance floor.”

While the site is covered in sand dunes now, the researchers say the tracks are within what was a network of wet, low watering holes between the dunes. In fact, the tracks provide more evidence of wet intervals during the Early Jurassic Period, when the U.S. Southwest was covered with a field of sand dunes larger than the Sahara Desert.

Chan and her colleagues, including Seiler, described the dinosaur track site in the October issue of the international paleontology journal Palaios.

By studying the shapes and sizes of the tracks, Seiler suggests four dinosaur species gathered at the watering hole, though the researchers have yet to match the prints with specific species. Currently, the tracks are named for their particular shapes and include:

* Eubrontes footprints measure 10 to 16 inches (25 to 41 cm) long and have three toes and a heel. These tracks likely were made by upright-walking dinosaurs with a body length of 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 m), or smaller than Tyrannosaurus rex.
* Grallator tracks are about 4 to 7 inches (10 to 18 cm) long, are three-toed and were left by small dinosaurs only a few feet tall.
* Sauropodomorph tracks, more circular than the other types, were left by creatures that walked on four legs and were the largest dinosaurs at the site. Their tracks range from 6 to 11 inches (15 to 28 cm) long. Seiler said the tail-drag marks are associated with these circular footprints, so they likely were made by sauropods.
* Anchisauripus tracks measure 7 to 10 inches (18 to 25 cm) long and were made by dinosaurs that ranged from 6 to 13 feet (2 to 4 m) in length.

The scientists have written to the Tanzanian and Kenyan authorities seeking cancellation of the project and recognition of Lake Natron as a Ramsar site — a wetland of international significance — that requires government protection.

Plans by Tata Chemicals of India and Tanzania’s National Development Corporation to establish a soda ash plant with an annual production capacity of 0.5 million tonnes at the lake have met with stiff opposition from environmental conservationists.

The congress, which took place near Cape Town, noted that Lake Natron is the world’s most significant breeding site for the Lesser Flamingo, listed as near-threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.

It further noted that the lake is the only site in East Africa where this species breeds regularly and successfully and one of only five such sites in the world.

The lake is also recognised as a Ramsar site as well as an Important Bird Area, the scientists noted.

The congress warned that the project will destroy the lake and the 1.5-2.5 million flamingoes dependent on it for survival, a fact that has been confirmed by an Environmental and social impact assessment.

Congress chairperson Prof Adrian Craig has written to the Tanzanian government, urging it to maintain fully the ecological integrity of Lake Natron as a breeding site for the Lesser Flamingo, recognise the large scientific uncertainties surrounding potential impact of any major infrastructural development at or near the lake, and to adopt the Precautionary Principle, ruling out any developments that could pose a risk to the flamingoes.

The congress also wants the government to ensure a transparent and participatory process in preparation of the integrated management plan for the Lake Natron Ramsar site currently being developed, ensure that this plan underpins the conservation of the Lake Natron ecosystem in perpetuity, and the use of its resources in a manner that does not put biodiversity and people’s livelihoods at risk.

The congress further urged Tanzania and Kenya to initiate co-operation for the conservation and wise use of Lake Natron following the principle of cross-border co-operation.

Such co-operation is enshrined in several multilateral environmental agreements, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on Migratory Species and the Africa-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement to which both states are party.

Apart from fears that the project could affect the breeding of 75 per cent of the world’s Lesser Flamingo due to increased disturbance from the presence of humans and vehicular traffic, it could also bring about changes in the volume and chemical composition of the water and increase the presence of predators.

Other concerns include the possible destruction of local pastoralist livelihoods as pastures are encroached on and water resources depleted.

Estimates show that, in 15 hours, the plant will use enough water to meet the needs of 40,000 cattle.

There also fears that the project could expose the local community to an increased risk of contracting HIV/Aids due to an influx of people, and destroy the tourism appeal of the lake area as a result of loss of wilderness quality, negatively affecting the economies of Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, which rely on flamingo-related tourism.

Tanzania earned $746 million from tourism in 2004 while Kenya earned $886 million in 2006.

There also concerns about increased environmental degradation and pressure on natural resources such as fuelwood and water; increased pollution from the plant’s by-products and waste from the urban centre that could affect the health of the local people and lead to an increased incidence of respiratory diseases.

Flamingo chicks, which are being tagged to monitor the evolution of the species, move around a pen at the Fuente de Piedra lagoon, 70 kms from Malaga. The lagoon, which is the most important breeding ground for flamingos in the Iberian peninsula, is also a nature reserve and a haven for birds with over 170 different species recorded. Photos here.

The Palau Conservation Society (PCS, BirdLife in Palau) has recently published the book Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Palau. The Republic of Palau is a small island nation in the tropical western Pacific, and the westernmost island group in the sub-region known as Micronesia.

The book, which describes the eight IBAs that have been identified by PCS and partners, will be distributed to decision-makers, traditional leaders, communities, land-owners and visitors. The identification of IBAs is expected to contribute to the on-going identification and management of protected areas in Palau.

“The eight IBAs identified in the new book cover about 47% of Palau’s total land area. Two of these sites, the remote southwest islands of Fana and Helen, are significant for their congregations of seabirds, especially Great Crested Terns Sterna bergii and Black Noddies Anous minutus”, said Dr Elizabeth Matthews, PCS Chief Program Officer.

“Three of the other sites are on Babeldaob, Palau’s largest island. These sites are important habitats for endemic forest birds”, noted Dr Matthews. Ngeriungs, an island in the Kayangel atoll, has Palau’s largest known population of Endangered Micronesian Megapodes Megapodius laperouse. The Rock Islands, Palau’s primary diving and recreation destination, was identified as an IBA for the presence of Micronesian Megapodes, as well as restricted-range, endemic forest birds.